Linzer Breakfast

Our stay at the "La Mamma" guesthouse, which is part of a pizzeria, had the unbeatable advantage that on the first evening we could enjoy a delicious pizza and refreshing summer cocktails. The only downside is that there is no breakfast here. However, since we always leave the house without breakfast at home, we're used to starting the day on an empty stomach. Yesterday scorching heat and lots of sunshine, today pleasant cycling weather and cloudy skies. Difficult for great photos, but good weather for the planned 100km. Once again, a ferry is part of the route, in Ottensheim we cross the Danube on the wire rope bridge with still empty stomachs. It's a ferry that takes us to the other side of the river, held only by a long steel cable stretched between masts, carried by the current. Our stomachs growl, but we're determined to have a late breakfast in Linz. We made it, sitting in the sunny main square in Linz for breakfast shortly after 11 am. It's a pity that we have planned so many kilometers for today, because Linz and then Grein are such beautiful cities that we would love to have more time there. The route leads through beautiful Danube meadows. Forests and fields alternate, the air smells of freshly harvested straw and unknown blossoms, sweet, almost like vanilla. At the edge of the forest, a deer appears just when we have packed away the camera (am I mistaken, or is the animal laughing at us?). When we see a hare on the paved field path between tall cornfields, we don't even think about taking a photo, because we recognize it immediately, that's the one that posed as a model for Dürer, back then. Between the trees on a large meadow where at first only 3 crows are visible, we discover on closer inspection 2 pheasants in the middle, marvelous.

The second ferry ride of the day takes us from the south bank to the north bank of Mauthausen. After that, there is a very long stretch, always on a dam next to the Danube. It's so tiring and feels like being on a boring highway, so we decide to break the dilemma with a piece of cake. The last kilometers to the accommodation: done - 99km and once again our backsides hurt. We have a great accommodation "Holiday on the Farm" just after Grein. Very friendly hosts and for dinner, we get to try a speciality from eastern Austria: Saumaisen with cabbage and potatoes. Like predicted, the rain starts exactly at 6 pm, and it's supposed to continue for the next 2 days.